


The Calm

by synfy



Series: Entwined [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synfy/pseuds/synfy
Summary: The last few months have been hard on everyone. The priest is dead, Janus is awake, and Patton's magic has been revealed. Things are finally starting to settle and, of course, that is when Roman's past is tossed back into his life, as if spat out by the merciless ocean waves that Roman has been running from ever since his eighteenth birthday.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: Entwined [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1379818
Comments: 20
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

_“Roman!” A voice calls to him, and Roman turns. He sees his mother standing in his doorway, looking at him with fondness and absolute pride on her face. Today is his tenth birthday, which is a very big deal for him! He finally gets to sail a ship today!_

_“Can I go now?” He asks. His mom nods, and holds out a hand. Normally, he’d be embarrassed to be seen holding her hand like he was still some sort of baby, but he is ten today! No one will think he is a baby any more. He grabs her hand and they leave his room. In the hallway, his brother is waiting. He grabs their mom’s other hand._

_They walk to the port. As they pass through the city, people hail them cheerfully. Roman sees the envious faces of some of his school friends, the proud faces of some of his parent’s friends. When they get through the city gates, and make it to the docks, calls come down to them from almost every ship they pass. All of the sailors, proud, dark men and women, wave down at Roman and his brother excitedly. At the end of the dock, Roman can see a small sailboat waiting. His father is standing next to it. Roman desperately wants his father to be proud of him today._

_They reach the end of the dock, and Roman climbs into the boat with Remus. The boat rocks underneath them, but that doesn’t scare Roman. It isn’t his first time on a boat, after all. However, it will be his first time sailing one. It’s terrifying, and exhilarating, and Roman sees his excitement mirrored on Remus’ face. After today, after they bring this little skiff out into the open water, and then bring it back to port safely, they won’t be children anymore. They’ll have their first command, and they’ll have proven their ability to grow up into a great captain, just like their father, the King. He’ll finally be proud of them._

_One of the men with their father unwraps the mooring and gently kicks the boat out. Roman grabs the oars in the bottom of the boat and begins to row them out into the deep water. He’s glad to be sitting down. As they move further from the relatively shallow water of the port, Roman can see the colour of the water quickly change. Near the docks, it’s lighter, silt churned up from the deep hulls of the massive trading vessels and smaller warships. From where they now are, barely more than a ship’s length from the docks, the water has gotten noticeably deeper. The bottom of the ocean, now far, far below, is too deep to be stirred by the passage of humans over top. Roman feels a rush of fear, of adrenaline, but his brother is smiling next to him, and his mother is waiting on the docks for him. He won’t let them down._

_He keeps rowing, until they are well out into the water. Remus scrambles to put up the sail, tie off the ropes, and then Roman sets down the oars. The wind is blowing well, and it catches in the sail easily. As the white material swells, Roman feels his heart lift and the pit in his stomach eases. The ship starts to sail, and Roman thinks he might be able to understand why his father spends so much time on the ocean._

_When they make it back to the dock, everyone claps and cheers. Their father is smiling as they are pulled from the boat and hoisted onto the shoulders of their father’s crew. Out of everyone in the cheering crowd, Roman looks to his mother. She is beaming, her expression full of joy and pride. There is something warm in Roman’s chest, and he is happy._

_~*~_

_Roman wakes with a start. His heart is racing, though he can’t figure out why at first. Light rips through the room and he abruptly, painfully remembers. Thunder shakes him to the core as he gets out of bed and walks to his window, his heart pounding. Peeking through the heavy blue and gold curtains, Roman looks out. From his bedroom on the third floor, Roman can easily see over the capitol’s defense wall. It’s lower there anyway, in the shallower northwestern waters._

_But the relative lack of depth does nothing to quell the fury of the waves during this storm. In the flashes of the lightning and the roving glow of the lighthouse, Roman can see the crash of the waves as they hammer at the sea wall. Storms always scare him. Some of the older sailors had mocked Roman for his fear of storms, insisting that there was nothing to be worried about, that being scared of a little rain and thunder was unbecoming of a thirteen year old crown prince. But the oldest sailors had always agreed with him, in a silent way that never eased his nerves._

_This storm seems worse than most, to Roman. He briefly considers going to his mother’s room and climbing into bed with her. But she’s not here. She’s out with his father on a voyage, not due back until later in the week. Even if she was, Roman isn’t sure he would want to face the quiet snickering of the guards. Instead, Roman creeps over to the door that connects his room to his brother’s, and knocks softly._

_There’s no response, so he slowly opens it. Remus is asleep when he enters, but stirs when he shuts the door. He doesn’t say anything, simply moves to one side of his massive bed and goes back to sleep. Roman slips into bed next to him, and tries to sleep. It’s easier than it would have been if he’d been alone in his room, but still not easy._

_~*~_

_When his father returns from his voyage at the end week, it is alone. For once, Roman’s fears had been right. The storm had been angry, and hungry._

_His father’s face is cold and stern, and Roman thinks he can see anger on the face of his uncle, the queen’s brother, who stands at his father’s side. Remus is next to him, and his presence is the only thing that keeps Roman upright. When the king dismisses them, the brothers go back to Roman’s room. They sit on the floor together._

_Roman thinks of his mother’s face, and cries._

~*~

Roman woke up gently, from sunlight hitting his face. He sat up and yawned, the last shreds of his dreams slipping away from him. The smell of fried eggs hung around in Virgil’s hut, and Roman looked over to the sink with a grin. Like he’d hoped, Virgil had left him a plate sitting in the sun under the window. Roman peeled the covers off of him and got up to grab the plate. The planks were warm underneath his feet, and he could see Virgil going about his routine outside the window. His puppy, named Dot, followed closely at his heels.

Roman felt a smile rise to his face, unbidden. 

It had been a strange couple of months, but he was alright. All of them were alright. 

After Patton had pulled the strange faerie out of the ruin, they’d all gone back to Virgil’s hut. Patton had explained about his powers, how he could see the future, how he and Virgil had been born. He’d explained how, in all of his years of hidden visions, he’d been able to talk to a voice in his head whenever he saw something. Roman had been able to tell that Virgil was hurt that Patton hadn’t told him, but ultimately Virgil knew that Patton was right. If anyone had known about his magic, he would have been in danger.

Still, it was weird to hear Patton talk about all the things he’d known over the years. He’d known that Roman would move into his little house on the edge of the woods since he’d first laid eyes upon it, apparently. He’d known about the taily-po before it had come to town, and he’d known about the priest. Roman hadn’t known about the priest, and he was actually glad of that. 

The weirdest part of the whole thing was the Fae. Roman had traveled a long distance to get to where he was now. He’d left his home in the Southern Kingdom, something he’d never told Virgil or anyone about. He’d seen many, many incredible things and creatures, and he’d never heard of Fae. The closest he could think of was the old sailor’s tale about sirens, but even those had only been tales. And now, suddenly, he knew at least three people who were Fae or somewhat Fae. Virgil and Patton, while not exactly faeries, certainly had been made from powerful magic, and it had left a mark. The faerie man that Patton had woken up, well, he was a different matter entirely. 

Janus, his name was. He had said precious little about himself. He’d said precious little at all, actually, at least to Roman. He knew that Janus and Virgil spoke occasionally, and Janus seemed willing enough then, but Roman was convinced that Janus would have never even shared his name without Patton’s urging. The two of them made a deeply uncomfortable pair. They carried on entire conversations completely wordlessly, in the way that comes from existing solely within the confines of another’s mind for years. They were constantly close in some way, Janus standing just enough in Patton’s way that the baker had to brush against him in a thousand small ways, and Patton constantly seemed to be looking to Janus for a sort of response. One time, when Roman had accidentally snuck up on the pair in the bakery, Janus had actually _hissed_ at him, and wrapped himself around Patton in a way that Roman wasn’t actually sure was physically possible, for a human. 

He was unnerving in the worst sort of way. His tapered ears could be ignored well enough, but his slit-pupiled eyes were a constant reminder of his otherworldliness. Whenever he stepped out into the sunlight, the golden pattern of scales that seemed to be just underneath his skin rippled in a way that made Roman slightly nauseous. Whenever he stood near the brothers, he seemed to bring out their own innate otherworldliness somehow, as if being compared to him brought out bits of strangeness that otherwise went unnoticed. He made Virgil seem paler, but in the way that the moon was pale, as if his skin was glowing with light. It was strange, but in an entrancing sort of way. Patton, next to Janus, seemed distant and airy. Even when Patton was talking to Virgil or Roman or Logan, it seemed like he and Janus were off in their own world together, talking through a cloud to reach everyone else. 

Roman told himself that it was because they were still all on edge from the taily-po attacks, and from the stress of helping Janus hide from the villagers. Patton still insisted on living in the town while Logan was there, and Janus refused to leave him. Virgil had begun building them another hut, on the opposite side of his lake, but Patton refused to leave the village for longer than two days at a time. He never said why, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. No one would say it out loud, but they all knew Logan would be thrown out of the village at some point. 

Virgil came in through the door, startling Roman out of his reverie. 

“Hey, good morning.” Virgil grinned and walked over to him to place a quick kiss on his cheek. 

Roman smiled and leaned down to steal a proper kiss. He broke it off when Dot started jumping at his shins to lick his knees. 

“Where’s-”

“On the dock. I think Duchess likes the sunshine.” Virgil answered, turning away from him to set down the handful of herbs he had been carrying.

“She certainly doesn’t seem to be quite as fond of the lake as Duke is.” Roman followed Virgil back out of the hut, and they walked towards the fishing traps in the river together. Sure enough, Duke and Duchess were at the bank of the lake, nudging Dot’s other siblings towards the water. 

“Do you think Aris is doing alright?” Roman mused aloud. 

Virgil snorted. “Are you kidding me? Logan named his puppy after his favourite author. There’s no way in hell he is anything less than smothering that dog. I would bet anything that he’s got Aristotle’s daily schedule written on a piece of parchment, tacked to the inside of his door.”

Roman actually laughed at that. “You’re absolutely right. I honestly thought he was going to cry when I offered him a pup.”

“I think he did, a little bit.” Virgil smiled, but it was tight. Neither of them wanted to say it out loud, but they were both thinking it. That Roman had never been planning to offer Logan a dog. That the tawny pup, now Aristotle, had been the pup Patton had chosen. That Patton, now so strangely distant from them and fiercely close to Janus, had actually turned down the tiny, wriggling little dog. Had said he didn’t think it was a good idea for him to have it. 

When they reached the fishing traps, they split up to check them. The second one Roman checked had two reasonably sized fish in it, and one that was a little small. Roman caught the little one easily and released it, before calling Virgil over. Virgil speared the other two with a sharpened stick, but hesitated before gutting them. Instead, he put the knife away and handed a skewer to Roman. 

“I’ll clean these back by the hut. I want to make sure the dogs are away from the water when I do.” Virgil stood up. “Also, I’ve been thinking about adding a second room to my house. And maybe a smaller door for the dogs?”

“Um, ok?” Roman followed Virgil back down the river. “I don’t know how much I can help but if there’s anything I can do?”

Roman couldn’t see Virgil’s face, but he could see the shrug. “Nah, I’ve got all the building stuff down. I just wanted to hear your opinion, since you’ve been spending more time with me lately.”

“Oh, well, I think it’d be nice to have a bit extra space.” Roman said, then hesitated. “I hope I’m not encroaching or anything? I can always go back to my house for a few weeks or something?”

Virgil did turn around at that, and vehemently shook his head. “No, not at all. I was actually planning on making a few more cabinets and chests, if you needed any extra storage space? I, um, I like having you around more. It’s nice.”

“Virgil Larksson, are you asking me to move in with you?” Roman grinned. 

He could see Virgil’s ears turning red. “You know that wasn’t actually her name, right?” 

It was the sort of grumble that meant Virgil was the exact kind of adorably embarrassed that Roman found so endearing. “Oh, sure. But it suits you.”

Virgil ignored him, but his ears stayed red until they got back to the house. 

When they got back to the house, all of their bright mood faded away in an instant. Virgil’s ears went pale again. The dogs were all nowhere to be seen, likely in the house. In their place on the dock were two familiar figures. As one, Patton and Janus turned their heads to look at them. 

“Hi. I didn’t see you coming.” Virgil called out. Patton-and-Janus stood up and looked at each other. 

“Sorry we didn’t send advanced warning. Something has, well, come up.” Patton looked back at Virgil and Roman got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Patton had gotten a vision, clearly. 

“I can take the fish back to the house and start cleaning them, if you want to talk.” Roman offered, sticking his hand out for Virgil to pass the fish to. Virgil nodded and began to, but Janus’ voice stopped him. 

“We actually need you to hear this one, Roman.” Janus’ voice wasn’t something Roman had heard often, but it sent chills down his spine every time. It was just a bit deeper than his own, and had a slight airiness to it that came from the fangs getting in the way. 

“Oh. Do you want me to go, then?” Virgil offered. Roman shook his head minutely and actually grabbed Virgil’s free hand instead. Virgil laced their fingers together wordlessly. 

“What is it?” Roman asked, a feeling of dread settling over him. 

Patton and Janus looked to each other again before Patton spoke, gently. “I had a vision this morning, Roman. I was awake, so it can’t be more than a week or two away. It, well. Roman, do you have a brother?”

Roman felt the air rush out of him like he’d been punched. “Yes. My twin.”

Patton nodded, like he’d been expecting it. Of course he had been. “He’s coming. Here. To the village. He is going to find you.”

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077/chapters/58157653)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer i dont fuckin know how sailboats work. Second disclaimer i really tried not to make the king too much like peter lukas but. I have been listening to the magnus archives. I cannot help myself.  
> Also, to clarify, Patton and Janus are codependent, yes, but they’re not an abusive couple or anything. Janus has been essentially trapped in a dream world for who knows how long, now he’s in this strange world and Patton is the only thing that is familiar and safe to him. For Patton, Janus is the only one who he feels like knows enough about him that he can actually trust, and is also dealing with the whole, he literally just murdered a guy thing. Like yes, the priest was bad, but his death wasn’t a clean one and Patton isn’t unscathed from that. They’ll be ok eventually, but right now everything is shakey


	2. Chapter 2

Patton and Janus left shortly after delivering their news. Roman scarcely left Virgil’s house for the rest of the day. Duke seemed to sense something was wrong, and Roman found himself in a bit of a puppy pile come mid afternoon. It was nice, but it did little to ease his nerves. Virgil hung around him for the rest of the day, clearly trying to be supportive but not smothering. It didn’t help, but Roman appreciated it nonetheless. 

The next day, he took Duke and Lady and rode back to the village. Virgil didn’t want him to go, of course, but Roman knew what he had to do. 

He stopped at his house to get more of his things, packing them into Lady’s saddlebags, and then headed into town. Patton’s bakery was open for business, through the window that looked into the kitchen. He had a tray of jelly tarts cooling on the sill, the lovely scent of fruit and pastry wafting into the street to entice visitors. Roman rapped his knuckles against the window frame. 

Patton appeared, a bright grin fixed on his face that softened into something more subdued, but more real when he saw Roman. 

“Hey! Come on in.” He nodded towards the door and disappeared into the back of the kitchen. Roman turned and headed to the front door of the bakery just as Janus opened it for him.

“What’s up, Ro?” Patton asked, dusting his hands on his apron. Roman sat down heavily in one of the chairs and rested his elbows on the table. 

“Don’t you already know?” He groaned. 

Patton’s face twitched, like he was trying to suppress a flinch, and Janus sat down across from Roman. 

“No, he doesn’t know, but it doesn’t take a genius to guess.” Janus propped an arm up on the back of his chair, his forearm just brushing against Patton’s stomach. “Don’t take your stress out on him.”

Patton rested a hand on Janus’s shoulder. “It’s ok.”

Roman ducked and ran his hands through his hair. “No, Janus is right. I’m stressed and I snapped at you, even though I came here to ask you for help. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, Roman. Really.” Patton sighed and sat down next to Janus. “I can’t help you with what you want, anyway.”

“You just said you don’t know for sure what I’m going to ask yet.”

“You’re going to ask when your brother is coming, and what you can do to avoid him finding you.” Janus replied, immediately. 

“...Yes.” Roman sighed. “I just, I can’t face him. You don’t get it. You don’t know what happened.”

Janus looked amused. “I can assure you, I do know that. But the truth is, we don’t know exactly when he’s coming either.”

“The vision happened while I was awake, so you’ve got anywhere between a couple hours and a couple weeks before he finds you, probably. I’ve had waking visions that have been further in the future, but not many. It’ll happen during the day time. Beyond that, I can’t say.” Patton looked thoughtful. “I don’t know what happens after he finds you, I didn’t see any of that.”

“Can you tell me where he finds me? If I know, then I can avoid him for as long as possible.” Roman asked, leaning across the table. 

Patton shook his head. "I can't."

I can't. Not, Roman realised, I don't know. Patton and Janus knew where Remus would find him. 

"Tell me where he finds me." Roman asked again, his voice dropping to a near growl. Patton frowned and Janus began to bare his fangs in response.

"No, Roman." Patton said firmly. "What I have seen will happen, and there's no way to change that. If I tell you where he catches up to you, you'll try to avoid it. He'll still find you, but it'll make whatever happens worse. I won't let you endanger yourself by telling you."

"What if I promise not to avoid him?"

"No. That's my final answer." Patton shook his head.

Roman slammed his palms down on the table, making Patton jump. Janus stood up and snarled, the expression transforming his face into a twisted mockery of a human's. 

"I think it's time for you to go, Roman. Run back to playing house with Virgil." There was a clear threat in his voice, and Roman couldn't help the thrill of fear that ran through his body. 

He got up and left without another word. 

He left the village, went to his house, got on Lady, and went right back to Virgil’s house. He didn’t make it there until night had already fallen, but that was ok. Inside Virgil’s hut, the fire was burning low, but the nearly-full moon provided enough light that Virgil could see his face clearly when he slipped into bed with him. 

“Mm, hi Roman.” Virgil mumbled sleepily, then rolled over and went right back to sleeping. 

Roman smiled, and then sighed. He’d talk to Virgil in the morning. Maybe Virgil could help him convince Patton or something.

~*~

“He told me no! Said something ridiculous about it only hurting me if I knew when Remus would find me. Let me tell you, if Remus catches me off guard, it’ll be worse. Period.” Roman said angrily. “There’s no way that I’ll be better off if I literally have no idea when he’s coming.”

Virgil sighed and shook his head, bending down to help Roman secure the rope around the tree he’d just felled. Once the tree was firmly attached, he nodded and Roman began leading Lady back towards the lake, the tree dragging behind her. 

“Maybe he meant that, if you try to change the future, it’ll have nasty consequences. That seems reasonable, and something to be avoided.” Virgil shrugged. “Also, we should get another horse if you, Patton, and Janus are all going to be going back and forth so often. Maybe one of those draft horses that the miller has so I don’t have to feel guilty about making Lady do all this heavy lifting.”

Roman glanced at his horse and nodded. “That would be a good idea. I’ll talk to Logan about it, he’s much better at haggling than I am. Anyway, I don’t think so. How could knowing possibly hurt me? I could just make a few changes, nothing big.”

Dot got tired of sitting on the tree and started to weave between Virgil’s ankles as he walked, trying to bite his heels. Virgil watched his puppy with an amused look on his face for a couple steps before bending down to scoop up the little brown beast. 

“I may not know things like Patton does, but I’m not an idiot, Roman. I am familiar with how magic works, and, despite what he may think, I do know my brother. Magic doesn’t like it when you try to resist it, and he doesn’t like it when people get hurt.” Virgil said simply. “If he says knowing more will only hurt you, then trust him on this one, you absolute buffoon.” 

Roman sighed. “Then what the hell am I going to do?”

They made it back to the lake, and Virgil led Lady over to an area next to his hut. He unhitched the tree from her, letting it come to rest next to three other large pines. He gave Lady a grateful pat and slipped the lead off of her so she could go graze in the clearing. 

Virgil sat down in the grass and leaned against the felled trees. He patted the ground next to him, and Roman dropped into the spot heavily. 

“Why don’t you tell me what happened with Remus? I’m not Janus, so I can’t magically know what went down. But if you tell me, then maybe I can work out some way to help you?” Virgil offered. 

Roman hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He’d barely told Virgil anything of his past, to be honest, and he rather owed it to Virgil. It was right that Virgil should know. 

“Most of it started when we were children, and our mom died.”

~*~

_After his mother died, Roman’s father grew cold and distant. He stopped hearing the plights of his people in person, and instead appointed Roman’s uncle to take over that. More and more often, he would vanish for weeks or months at a time on The Dragon, the king’s personal sailing ship. From the time Roman was thirteen up until his sixteenth birthday, he barely spoke more than a handful of times to his father, and he never set foot on a ship._

_It wasn’t necessarily for lack of trying, or for lack of opportunity. He tried to get on a ship a couple of times, privately, but every attempt sent him reeling back. He’d make it to the dock, get one foot into a sailboat, and then the boat would wobble, and he’d see the water underneath. His mind would flashback to the storm that night, when his mom had died, how angry the sea had looked. The Ocean Goddess that his people worshipped was not a kind and caring Lady, no, she was a powerful, vengeful entity. His brother Remus never had the same issue. Remus spent every day past their tenth birthday that he could on the water. Remus seemed to love it._

_Roman, instead, spent his time in the scarce forests outside of the capital’s walls. There were a scant handful of lumberjacks who were permitted within the forests for logging, and only the royal family was allowed to hunt. So, it was perfect for a lonely fifteen year old who wanted to hide from the ocean. Roman spent more time with the small group of hunting dogs in the royal kennels than he did with members of his own family._

_When he turned sixteen, his free time ended. He’d been born slightly before Remus, so he was the crown prince. When he turned sixteen, he spent the next two years going through training to be able to fulfill his kingly duties. It wouldn’t have been that strict, usually, except his father died shortly after his birthday._

_It wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t heartbreaking. His father simply took ill when he was out on one of his lonely voyages, came back, and died. There were no heartfelt deathbed apologies, no final wishes. He simply died, alone, in his room. And left only his sixteen year old sons._

_Roman’s uncle, who was the brother of the Roman’s mother, was appointed to be his regent while Roman learned how to rule. He studied policy, politics, trade patterns, and command. Which, unfortunately, did include command of a vessel. He had to be seen by his subjects as a competent leader, and the best way to do that was to be seen captaining The Dragon. So, many of his lessons were taught by tutors to him in the captain’s quarters of The Dragon. Remus was his first mate, but Roman didn’t see much of him. Roman was captain of The Dragon in title only, with most day-to-day things being taken care of by Larry, who had been first mate under his father. Remus, on the other hand, seemed to actually be Larry’s first mate._

_When Roman turned eighteen, they docked at the capital and began the preparations for his coronation._

_Coronation in the Islands, like much of the culture in general, revolved around sailing. First, Roman had to prepare himself to sail west from the capitol, alone, on a small ceremonial sailboat. He had to make it safely to an island off to the west, a small sacred isle that belonged to the Goddess. He’d stay there for one night, and sail back. If he made it back, it would be considered proof of his eligibility to rule._

_The first day of being back in the castle, Roman had been heading down to the kitchens when he’d passed by a meeting room that he’d expected to be empty. Instead, he heard voices inside._

_“I know it bothers you, and it should! Why should he be king if he can’t even sail? I had the same issue, you know. I was always a better sailor than my sister, but she had the luck to be born first, so she got the crown.” It was his uncle talking. At first, Roman didn’t realise who he was talking to._

_“What exactly are you trying to say to me?” The voice was slightly more nasal than his own, but Roman would know the voice of his twin anywhere._

_“I’m saying, I’ve seen you gut a fish. Hell, I’ve seen you gut a shark. I know you’ve got it in you. If something were to happen to your brother, well. I would support you. I think you’d make a great king.”_

_Roman didn’t stick around to listen to any more of his family plotting to murder him. Abandoning caution, he turned and fled. He thought he knocked over a vase in the hallway, but he didn’t care. He ran right to his room, locked the door, and sank to his feet._

_It took him the whole night to settle on what he had to do. It would be tough, but he had no other choice. Roman packed lightly, only two pairs of thin linen clothes and a sturdy pair of boots. It was summer, so he wouldn’t need much more. All the hunting equipment he could carry filled the rest of the space in the bag. He snuck out of the castle through the kitchens one night, stocking up on jerky and hardtack on the way out. There was a boy who worked there who Roman had become quite familiar with who helped him leave undetected._

_He couldn’t help himself, he stopped by the royal kennels before he left. There was a dog there, barely older than a puppy, that he’d grown especially fond of. He took the dog with him, and stole a small sailboat from the docks. There was barely enough space in the boat for him and the dog, but having someone else there helped distract him from the vanishing sea floor when he got into deeper waters. He sailed for weeks, keeping close to the shores of islands, always heading north, away from the capital. By the time he passed the third island, news of his disappearance had made it around the kingdom. Sailors were notorious gossips. It didn’t matter, though._

_Weeks on open water, little shade and constant sea spray made him nearly unrecognisable. He’d always been darker skinned than his brother, but now his hair was noticeably fairer, too. He’d filled out in the shoulders from the work of fishing and manning the sails against the wind, until he looked like any other young fisherman, set out from home to sail the waves. Even his dog, who he’d begun to call Duke, no longer looked like a prized royal hunting hound. Without the grooming and care of the kennelmaster, Duke had begun to look no different than any other mongrel roaming the docks of small trading towns._

_When he made it to the northernmost town in the Islands, a large shipping and agricultural center called Helvi, he almost lost his nerve. But at those docks, he heard the news that the Crown Prince Remus had begun training under the King Regent, and he knew he couldn’t stay within the kingdom. His brother and uncle had seized power for themselves, and they’d kill him if they found him. Better to take his chances with the Ocean Goddess._

_He stole what food he could, and set sail across the North Sea. He’d heard horror stories about it from old sailors, and older history tomes, of monsters and storms and unfathomable depths._

_It was true, that the North Sea was colder and deeper by far than any water he’d encountered before. But, he saw no monsters in his week and a half long voyage across it. He encountered no storms, and the only unusual thing about the whole trip was how oddly difficult he found it was to fish there. Still, he was happy when he finally reached the North Continent. He ditched his sailboat, shoved it back out to sea so it would dash against the cliffs and not give him away, and headed into the mountains with Duke._

~*~

“You know the rest of the story from there.” Roman sighed. 

“Came over the mountains, found the little cabin on the edge of town, and started hunting and bartering.” Virgil nodded. “And met me, Patton, all that.”

Roman tried to smile, but it didn’t come out well. “And now Remus is coming to find me. I haven’t got a clue what for, but given that last time I saw my brother, he was plotting to kill me? I can’t imagine I’m going to have a happy family reunion.”

Virgil pulled Roman in for a hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly. “Whatever Remus’s intentions are, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I swear it. I’ll do whatever is necessary.”

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077/chapters/58200133)


	3. Chapter 3

After Roman’s outburst and breakdown, about a week passed without Janus and Patton visiting. They’d been in a schedule of visiting about twice a week, so the silence was very pointed. Roman didn’t go to the village once in that time. He helped Virgil complete the expansion of his hut, did some hunting, and a couple other building projects that were a little more selfish.

Constructing a tanning hut at the very edge of the clearing was something he could easily do without Virgil’s help, aside from Virgil telling him which trees he could take. In all honesty, the new tanning hut was actually a nicer one than he had near his rarely-used cabin back near the village. He was quite proud of it, and not even Virgil’s sly smirks could dampen that.

He knew Virgil’s smirks were just for show anyway. Virgil had very pointedly included some upgraded furniture in the expansion of his own hut. Roman knew this was the closest he was going to get to an outright invitation to actually move in.

The hut was now a weird little bubbled triangle. The original single room had been converted into just the kitchen, with more counters, cabinets, and a proper table had been added. Virgil was becoming quite the accomplished carpenter with all the work he’d done. Both the table and the cabinets had turned out beautifully, with swirling designed carved into the grain of the wood along the doors of the cabinets and the sides of the table. The table had two chairs sitting at it currently, but there was easily room for more whenever Virgil was finished with more pressing projects.

The swirling designs on the table and cabinets had been copied over onto the drawers of a massive dresser that Virgil had put in the first of the two new additions to his hut. They were matched on the frame of the new bed Virgil had also built, which was honestly about twice as large as it needed to be for the two of them to share. Not that Roman could really complain. Having the extra space was certainly very nice for certain… activities.

The door joining the bedroom to the kitchen was where the window overlooking the lake had previously been. Adding it there had been difficult, according to Virgil, but he’d managed. He’d actually sent some sort of magical message to Logan to get his assistance in figuring out how to do it. Roman didn’t understand all the math they’d pushed through to make it work, and he didn’t want to. The last new room had been added with another door connecting it to the kitchen, and one more that lead directly out into the garden. It had a proper cellar underneath it, with a ladder leading down into a dimly lit area big enough for Virgil to stand it. Roman’s head brushed the ceiling and Logan had to duck in order to walk around in it, but neither Janus nor Patton would have an issue with it. There were shelves dug into the walls of it for storing root vegetables from the garden, smoked and dried meat, and hopefully soon some wine that Virgil was thinking of trying to make.

It was definitely Virgil’s favourite of the additions, but it also had been the most difficult to build. Virgil had started on it at the beginning of the week, and by the middle of the week he’d written to Logan again to get Logan to just come to the lake. At first, Roman was somewhat annoyed by the new addition, but he’d come around on it. Virgil obviously enjoyed Logan’s company, and Roman found himself coming to enjoy it, too. Besides, it meant that Virgil didn’t try to talk math at him. The less Roman had to think about actual numbers, the happier he was.

It also very much helped that Logan had come with a young draft horse, purchased from the miller in town. Apparently Janus had told him that they wanted a draft horse. Roman interpreted this as an apology of sorts. Roman had found that he absolutely adored horses, and this one was no exception. Logan had apparently gotten a really good price on the horse, due to some behavioural issues the miller had with him. Put simply, the new horse was a very spirited stallion whose favourite pastime seemed to be biting people. And attempting to jump whatever fences Roman constructed to keep him from running off. 

The stallion, who he’d named Baron, had been Roman’s personal project for the last few days while Virgil and Logan had been working on Virgil’s hut. Lady was well trained and a few years older than Baron, but also generally a more even tempered horse. She didn’t need to be tied off when she was at Virgil’s hut, because she never strayed outside of the clearing. The underbrush in the forest wasn’t as appealing to her as the grasses in the meadow, so she just didn’t bother. Baron, on the other hand, didn’t seem to give a solitary shit. He’d wander up the trails and off the trails and into the forest if he was left unsupervised and untethered for more than five minutes. Roman had, at first, tethered him to the branches of a large pine on the edge of the clearing, assuming that Baron was simply seeking the shade of the forest because he got overheated.

However Baron was, in fact, a draft horse. As soon as he realised he could, he simply ripped the branch clean off the poor tree and pranced around with it dragging behind him. Next he tried building a simple fence of fallen branches and reeds woven around each other and jammed into the ground. It was about waist high, and it actually worked for an entire day. Then Lady, who had been left outside of the makeshift pasture, decided she wanted to go into the pasture. Being a much lighter and more agile horse, she simply jumped over the fence, and cleared it quite easily. Baron saw this and attempted the same thing to get out. He didn’t quite make it over the fence, but that sure didn’t stop him. After a few more attempts, Roman gave up on fences entirely.

Roman settled on simply lashing Baron to the trunk of a tree and waiting for Virgil to finish his other building projects before getting his help. The best way to go about it would probably be constructing a little pavilion or something with shade and water in the middle of some grass, with a beam sunk into the ground that he could lash Baron to. Unfortunately, unless you were a magician like Virgil, sinking a beam into the ground was not something that could be done alone.

All in all, the week did a lot to calm Roman’s nerves. Between Baron helping him take his mind off Remus during the day, and Logan’s additional presence in the house at night, he felt a lot better. It was also really nice to see Aristotle, Logan’s puppy, getting to play with his siblings.

~*~

When Janus and Patton came to visit, finally, things started to go to shit again.

They, as always, appeared out of the woods like a strange pair of ghosts, gliding across the grass like a snake and a mist. Roman waved in greeting to them, and felt a bit of relief when Patton smiled and waved back.

“Patton, I am really sorry about my last visit to you, I-” Roman started to apologise as soon as he was close enough, but Janus waved it off and Patton shook his head.

“It’s ok, Roman. I know how worried you are about this whole thing, and I don’t blame you for being on edge.” His smile turned sad. “I can’t help you in the way you want me to, but know that I will help you.”

Roman nodded, and hesitated. “Can I-”

“Yes, absolutely.” Patton’s grin turned happy again, and he stepped into Roman’s hug gladly. “For the record, I didn’t know you were going to ask for a hug, I just really wanted a hug also.”

Roman laughed. “You do give the best hugs out of all of us.”

When he let go, Virgil emerged from a different side of the woods and spotted them. He ran over, Logan close on his heels.

“Pat! Janus!”

Patton stepped away to hug Virgil, and Roman was pleased to see that Patton seemed genuinely excited to see his brother again. Janus and Logan exchanged friendly nods of greeting.

“Nice to see you again, Healer.”

“And you. Thanks for the tip about the horse.” Logan glanced at Roman slyly. “Ro’s been obsessed with the animal since he got it.”

Roman crossed his arms, but he couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed. “He’s a beautiful horse.”

Logan inclined his head. “Speaking of which, Virgil and I initially came to ask you if we could make use of him. Nothing too strenuous, but we have a tree that needs moving. Virgil says some kind of animal fight knocked over a medium sized tree in the forest and it’d be good to use for the new house.”

Janus frowned. “An animal fight? Hm.”

Patton looked at him curiously, but he simply shook his head.

“Sure, but I’ll need to help you with handling him. He’s… several handfuls, actually.” Roman glanced over at Patton and Janus. “Want to come on the adventure with us? If you would like, I’ll gladly loan you Lady for your ride back tonight, so you’re not so pressed for time.”

“That would be lovely. Thank you, Roman.” Janus nodded, and gave Roman a strange smile through closed lips. Roman realised he was trying not to flash his fangs.

Roman nodded back and headed over to the tree he’d tied Baron to. Baron tried to nip at him, but gave up after a couple of failed attempts.

“Alright, lead the way, you two.”

Roman made sure to keep a close eye on the horse as they walked, and put a bit of space between him and the others just in case. Virgil and Logan kept up a constant stream of chatter as they walked, going over the plans they had for Janus and Patton’s house.

“We’re modeling it to be like my hut, except it’ll be a little bit sturdier, since the rooms won’t be later additions. I wasn’t thinking of adding a cellar to your house, but I was going to try to build in an oven for Patton? I might put it outside, I’m not sure yet. I’ll put a big fireplace in, I know you get cold, Janus.”

Logan put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder and glanced back. “Do either of you have strong feelings about having the oven inside or outside?”

“Maybe outside? It’s nice having it inside during the winter, but it makes the kitchen unbearably hot during the summer.” Patton offered. “Plus, then we could all use it without going inside.”

“Mmm, good idea. I guess I’ll have the kitchen open out towards the oven.” Virgil thought about it for a few seconds. “Yeah, I’ll make it so you have one very large kitchen and a bedroom instead of the kitchen, storage, and bedroom layout of my house. Unless you want a different kind of room for you, Janus? I don’t know what you did before you… well, before all of this.”

“Nothing that was inside a home. A larger kitchen works perfectly well for me.” Janus said politely. “Thank you, Virgil.”

They reached the fallen tree after a few more minutes of easy chatting. It was a good sized tree, as Virgil had promised. Aside from a couple large, broken branches that would have to be carried, Baron would definitely be able to pull the tree by himself. While Roman worked on lashing it to Baron without the horse misbehaving too much, he saw Janus walk around to look at the broken-off end of the tree. He closed his eyes and leaned into Patton. For a moment, it seemed like Patton was supporting the whole of his weight, but then Janus stood back up and opened his eyes again.

“What is it?” Virgil asked, and Roman looked up to see Janus with a deep frown on his face.

“I don’t know. It’s strange.” Janus glanced at Patton, who raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” Patton ran his fingers over the end, and Logan walked around to see what they were looking at.

“They look like marks from a bear to me. The claw marks here are further apart than my fingers are, and they go pretty high up the tree. I’ve seen trees knocked over by two male bears fighting before.” Virgil shrugged. “I don’t know when the fight happened, I was just looking for good trees earlier and the forest told me this one was already down.”

Janus shook his head. “There was definitely one bear, a big brown male. I can see that much. But I don’t know what he was fighting, or how the tree actually fell. I can only see little parts of the fight.”

“Has that happened before? Not being able to see something’s past?” Logan asked curiously.

Janus shrugged. “Oh, sure. I don’t know things about the past of anything that’s too far away from me, or anything that I don’t know about the existence of.”

“Then, do you think the bear was fighting something that you don’t know about?” Logan adjusted his glasses.

“No, it’s… Ugh. It’s difficult to explain how our magic works, and I’m not doing a very good job.” Janus let out a hiss of frustrated air. “I’ve never been to your kingdom’s capital city, but I can see what it’s like through your past, Logan. I could even, if I tried, see some things about the past of the noblewoman who was your patron when you were in school. But I can’t, for example, see the past of a young mother living in whatever town is closest to the capital. I don’t know what town would be closest, and I have no idea if a young mother even lives there. Even with your patron, who I know exists, I would have to try very, very hard to be able to know anything at all about her, because the capital is so far away from me.”

“So what you’re saying is that you should be able to know what the bear was fighting with, even if it’s not an animal that you’re familiar with?”

“Yes, precisely.” Janus looked at the tree again. “Although, it may not be anything strange at all. My powers have been a little off since I woke up.”

“Maybe we should just take the tree and go. I don’t feel like meeting with whatever fought a bear.” Patton glanced up to Roman. “Is he ready to go?”

Roman nodded. Almost no animal would try to attack a group of five humans and a draft horse, but he wasn’t going to point that out right now. All the talk of magic was giving him the creeps. “Yep, Baron’s ready to go.”

Virgil grabbed one of the larger branches off the ground. “Let’s head back, then. If we make good time, I think I can get the floors and walls up today.”

“Oh, we can bring most of the materials you wanted from town with us tomorrow when we come back.” Patton grabbed another branch and nodded to his brother.

Baron was shockingly well-behaved on the walk back to the lake. He didn’t try to bite at Roman nor did he attempt to leave the trail. He was so good that Roman didn’t tie him back to the usual pine tree after unhitching the fallen log from him, and instead let him roam the meadow with Lady, though he did keep an eye on Baron to make sure he didn’t use his freedom to run off.

Virgil stripped and split the log into several smooth planks. Though Roman had seen him do this many times over for the expansion of their own house, it was still impressive. After nearly two weeks of felling and splitting trees with magic, he seemed stronger. If that was a thing that applied to magic, anyway. Splitting one tree trunk now seemed like it barely took Virgil any energy at all.

Logan then helped direct Patton and Roman to move the planks to where they needed to go, according to the plans he and Virgil had made. Once the floor was made, they all took several steps back. Virgil turned to the pile of prepared lumber that he’d piled along the treeline, and began to lift it into place to form the supporting beams for the walls.

Roman had never gotten a chance to just watch Virgil do this before. Every other time, he’d been busy with Baron or helping to strip the bark off other trees. So, he’d never noticed before how Virgil’s eyes and hands seemed to take on a slight purple glow when he sank the beams into the ground. By the time all of the beams were in, Virgil was clearly getting exhausted. When he turned to face the lake, Janus went to his side and placed a hand on his arm. When Virgil began to glow purple again, it took Roman a moment to realise that it wasn’t the sun making Janus glow faintly gold. The scale patterning on his face seemed to become more… obvious, somehow. Patton walked up to Virgil and mirrored Janus, placing his own hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Roman shot a glance at Logan and found the healer watching the trio with the same amazement that he also felt.

Patton began to glow a light blue, and Roman watched as the ends of his hair lifted slightly, and his clothing went slack. Though his feet never left the ground, Patton seemed as if gravity no longer had any hold on him. He looked… airy. Virgil’s glow mixed oddly with Patton’s and Janus’s where they made contact, becoming shot through with silver and yellow jagged lines like lightning.

From the lake, muddy clay and stones rose up into the air and moved towards the cabin. They filled in the space between the beams neatly, and smaller planks from the pile moved to make frames for doors and windows. When the walls were up, the whole structure glowed for an instant and Roman caught a whiff of something similar burning pitch as the clay baked hard. Planks flew from the pile again, forming the roof, and the bark that Roman had helped to strip off lined itself along the wood, sticking to the sap that suddenly oozed from within. When the flurry of activity finally ceased, there was an empty, but complete, house.

The trio stopped glowing but didn’t let go of each other, instead sagging inwards and clutching onto each other for support. They were clearly all exhausted.

“What on earth was that?” Roman asked, jogging over to them and holding out an arm for Virgil to lean on. Janus and Patton leaned on each other and waved Logan off when he offered to help.

“We were loaning our magic to Virgil for him to use. He is building a house for us, after all, it’s the least we can do. He used up quite a bit more of his own magic than we did. We’ll be fine.” Janus answered. He was already starting to stand back up on his own and pull away from Patton’s support. Roman glanced down at Virgil who, indeed, seemed quite a bit more pale and worn out than Janus or his brother.

“Didn’t know you could do that. Thanks.” Virgil wiped some sweat off his forehead.

“You’ve borrowed magic before, from the forest. It was just the same as that.” Janus shrugged.

“Will you be alright?” Logan asked Virgil. Roman realised this was probably the first time Logan had ever seen Virgil do so much magic all at once.

Virgil nodded and grinned. “Oh, yeah. I’ll be just fine in a few minutes. I’m a bit tired, but Janus and Pat really helped.”

As Virgil said his brother’s name, Roman saw Janus’s head snap towards Patton. Roman watched as Patton wavered on his feet and clutched Janus’s arm, before collapsing.

Janus grunted softly and Logan quickly moved to help Janus catch the baker. They bore Patton to the ground, Janus cradling the back of Patton’s head.

“What’s going on?” Roman barked, feeling Virgil begin to panic and try to get out of his arms to help.

Janus shook his head and put a hand up to stop Virgil. “He’s perfectly fine. It’s a vision.”

Janus leaned back so Roman could see Patton’s face. His eyes were open, but they’d gone completely white. There was no trace of a pupil, or even of veins in his eyes, and nothing seemed to reflect in them.

“Oh.” Janus closed his own eyes, then slumped forward like a puppet with cut strings.

Logan looked back up at Virgil, worry on his face. “Should we-”

In perfect unison, Janus and Patton gasped. Patton’s eyes went back to normal, and Janus sat back up. They shared a long look, and then Janus began to help Patton sit back up.

“Sorry, guys.” Patton grinned, though it looked more tired than before. “I don’t always have as much warning before I get a vision as I would like. And I don’t have anywhere near the control Janus does.”

Virgil opened his mouth to say something, but Janus cut him off. “We should probably head back to the village. It’ll start to get late soon, and Patton needs rest. We’ll return tomorrow.”

“I- alright. I’ll go get Lady’s tack.” Virgil blinked.

“I’ll bring Lady here.” Roman offered. Logan looked at both of them, then back at Janus and Patton.

“Patton, may I give you a quick look-over?” He asked. Roman turned away and went to get Lady before he had to listen to the medical babble.

He brought Lady back just as Virgil emerged from the house with her tack. Janus and Patton didn’t seem interested in talking anymore, and only traded loaded looks as they saddled up Lady.

“Thank you again for the use of your horse, Roman.” Janus said, once they were ready to leave.

Roman nodded and stroked her nose. “Of course. I know you guys will take good care of her.”

“You should bring Baron inside the hut tonight. If you can manage it.” Patton blurted out. He refused to make eye contact at all. “It’s going to storm and you don’t want him to be left out.”

“Oh. Will I need to bring the chickens inside, too?” Virgil asked, looking a little confused. Roman felt much the same. It didn’t look like there would be a storm.

“No, they’ll be alright. You don’t want Baron to get spooked and run off or anything.” Patton nodded absently. “We’ll be back with Lady tomorrow.”

Roman, Virgil, and Logan waved them off into the forest.

“He’s lying about the storm.” Virgil spoke as soon as the pair disappeared into the trees. “I may not be a seer myself, but I know this forest well. We’re not going to get a storm for at least a few more days.”

“What does that mean for us, then?” Logan glanced back at Baron.

“It means we bring the horse inside tonight, I put extra wards up around the chicken coop, and we prepare for some trouble.” Virgil looked Roman in the eyes as he spoke. “There’s a chance Remus is coming tonight.”

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077/chapters/58200058)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally gonna get to that sweet sweet analogince y'all

There was no storm that night. Or, if there was, Roman didn’t hear it. He slept surprisingly soundly the whole night, his bow at his side, and didn’t wake until he heard Baron begin to stamp around in the kitchen.

He got up and made his way into the kitchen. Baron tried to bite him, but Roman managed to sleepily dodge it. Fortunately the horse hadn’t left any fun surprises on the floor, just a bit of mud. The kitchen window was open and sunlight was just beginning to peer in, pale and thin. Something it gave Roman a bad feeling. He grabbed Baron’s lead and managed to coax the horse through the door and out into the meadow. He dropped Baron’s lead and let the horse wander towards the lake for a drink. With a yawn, he stretched his arms up above his head and let out a sigh as he felt his back crack. He turned to the side, about to head back in, and stopped dead.

“Virgil! Logan! Get out here!” He couldn’t hide the panic in his words and he heard something crash as Virgil woke up.

In seconds, they were both at his side, wide-eyed.

Virgil looked to him first, then scanned around the lake. “What the fuck… oh. Oh.”

The grass to the north side of the house was streaked with red and white. Chicken feathers and blood smeared the ground in patches, from the edge of the tree line all the way up to the coup. Like a spell had been broken, Virgil lurched forward and all but charged at his coop. Roman and Logan were right behind him.

The coop was a mess. Despite the charms and wards on it, a smear of blood came from inside the coop, dragging over the threshold. The wood itself was undamaged, but the loose dirt floor had deep gouge marks in it. In the very back, huddled together in one shaking mass, were the remaining chickens.

As soon as the hens realised it was Virgil and Roman, the ball of feathers broke apart and they rushed up, clucking in distress. There were six of them left, which mean three had been taken. Virgil picked up two of them, cooing gently to the upset fowl. His eyes met Roman’s.

“Do you think it’s R-”

“No.” Logan shook his head. “Those claw marks are decidedly not human. Unless your brother has some ability that we don’t know about, there’s no way he could have done this.”

Roman felt a wave of relief wash over him, followed by guilt. Virgil turned to face him, looking weary but determined.

“It’s ok. This can be fixed. When Janus and Patton get back, we can ask them what exactly it was that they saw yesterday, and repair the coop accordingly.” Virgil sighed and released the two chickens he’d been holding. “I guess the girls are going to have to get used to being locked in the coop during the night.”

Virgil stood up, put his hands on his hips, and looked around. “Alright. If you would give the girls some food, I am going to throw some water on the grass to try to wash some of this mess away. Logan, could you help?”

Roman nodded and went back inside to grab the bucket of corn. Baron seemed to be behaving himself, which was good, because Roman did not have the mental energy to worry about that horse today. He really had thought, when he’d first seen the blood streaks, that it had been Remus’s doing. From the time they were children, Remus had never had an issue with gutting and cleaning the fish that they’d whenever they were out at sea. Roman had hated at first, hated killing a living thing, but he’d gotten over it after a year or so. It had never even given Remus pause. In retrospect, Roman supposed that should have been a warning sign.

He fed the chickens and then went to help the other two with washing the blood away. For good or for ill, the blood hadn’t hardened yet and it was easy to clean up. When the grisly scene had been reduced to wet grasses and soaked chicken feathers, they turned and went about their own morning routines by silent agreement. Virgil went through his garden, Logan started on some breakfast, and Roman checked on Baron before heading upriver to check on the fish traps.

The first one he came across was empty, so he didn’t bother checking the ones further up. It had only been a night or so since they’d last been checked, so he didn’t really expect anything to be in them. He could check on them later in the day.

He headed back to the house, and they ate a tense, but good breakfast together. Virgil and Logan collected some fallen pine branches and wove them together to make a decently sturdy door for the coop. Around midday, they were outside relaxing when Virgil suddenly looked up and stared intently at the tree line.

“Janus and my brother are here.” Virgil said softly.

Roman followed his gaze and waited. Sure enough, after about a minute, Lady emerged from the trees. Janus was leading her, not riding her, and Patton seemed to be carrying something brown and squirming. When they came fully into the clearing, Roman realised why.

Lady was pulling a simple wooden cart behind her, the cart carrying some plain bundles of fabric. Certainly not something that was heavy enough to bother Lady, but it would have been too much for her to have riders while she pulled it. In addition to a cart and the fabric Virgil had asked for, two goats were tied to the back of the cart, plodding along resentfully at the very end of the rope. When Janus and Patton got close to them and the whole entourage came to a stop, Roman realised the thing Patton was holding was another chicken. Specifically, a rooster.

Patton held the animal out to Virgil. His expression was clearly apologetic, but it held no guilt.

Virgil sighed and took it. “Thank you. I suppose it was unavoidable that some of my birds were killed?”

Patton nodded. “I thought that if you knew, you might have tried to bring them inside and that could have resulted in whatever it was hurting you guys or Baron.”

“Fair enough. Thank you for the warning about Baron, and for this.” Virgil motioned for Patton to follow him and led everyone over to the coop. He set the rooster inside and let the bird inspect his new surroundings. “I’ll give it a moon or so, and then I’ll let one of my girls get broody and see if she can hatch anything.”

“Patton, what was it that you saw attack? Whatever it was, it didn’t wake any of my dogs, and it avoided all of Virgil’s wards.” Roman turned to ask.

Janus and Patton traded a look, which Roman instantly knew wasn’t good.

“The thing is…” Patton trailed off, still looking at Janus.

“We don’t actually know.” Janus broke the staring contest to turn his eyes on Roman, who fought off a shudder. Something was so much worse about his eyes today.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Logan adjusted his glasses. “Wasn’t the attack what you both saw yesterday?”

“Yes and no.” Janus looked down at the coop. “He saw you finding the coop this morning. Not whatever attacked the chickens last night. When we got back to the bakery, he tried to see the event itself. Forcing yourself into a vision can be difficult and can be dangerous, but it shouldn’t have been hard, since the vision wouldn’t have been that far into the future.”

“I couldn’t see anything.” Patton looked to Virgil when he spoke. “I saw you finding the wreckage, I saw one of your chickens bleed out in the woods, I saw the hens all sleeping peacefully. But I never saw the actual creature that attacked, no matter how hard I tried. Janus said he felt a similar sort of blank spot yesterday, when he got a vision of the bear fight that felled that tree. He could see the bear, he could see the tree falling, but he couldn’t see the bear’s opponent. We think that, whatever it was, it’s the same animal.”

“So, it’s another magical animal?” Logan asked. “Or something that’s resistant to magic. Something must be stirring this one up, too.”

“I don’t give a _fuck_ what it is!” Virgil threw his hands up. “I don’t _care_ where it is coming from, if it has babies to feed, _whatever_. It’s killing my hens, and I won’t have it put me, or Roman, or Logan, or either of you in danger. Whatever the hell it is, how do I keep it out? Can it be killed?”

Janus and Patton exchange a look, and Janus shrugged. “We don’t know.”

“What?”

“We just don’t know.” Janus looked Virgil full in the eye. “Neither of us can see anything about this creature. We’re just as in the dark about it as you are. We’ll do anything we can to help, but you know everything we do.”

“I saw the chickens would get attacked, so I made sure that the horses would be safe, and I brought you a rooster to help rebuild your flock. That’s the best I can do this time. I’m sorry.” Patton sighed. “I did bring you two goats, some materials for a bed for Janus and I, a small cart, and an ax for Roman. That’s my apology, and our thanks for building us a house.”

Roman watched some of the tension bleed out of Virgil’s shoulders, and he moved forward to hug his brother. “Thank you for all of this. I’m sorry I had that outburst. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“Patton, I do have to ask, how are you paying for all of this? I know that some of these materials aren’t exactly cheap.” Logan had walked around to the cart and was going through it, a look on his face that said he was mentally cataloging everything it contained.

Patton released Virgil and looked over to Logan. “Oh, well. I do run a pretty profitable bakery, you know. It’s not like I ever spend much money on anything aside from food and essential supplies. I guess I have saved up a fair bit of money over the years. I might as well spend it on something.”

“I do appreciate it. Even if I have no idea what we’ll do with the goats at night.” Virgil rubbed his forehead. “It’ll be nice to have fresh milk again, whenever she starts producing.”

“We could build a kennel or something? To keep all of the animals in at night. It didn’t go through the walls of the coop, so it probably won’t be able to break in to a properly constructed kennel.” Roman suggested.

“Oh, a barn. That’s a good idea. It’ll take a lot of wood, but that’s alright. There’s still plenty of trees that the forest will let me fell, and I can just start planting some of the seeds.” Virgil looked up at the sun. “I think we have enough time to gather the wood for it today, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do the furniture or draw up plans for the barn if I do.”

Roman put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “Well, I don’t know what Patton and Janus plan to do, but I think I know how to put together a bed by now. I’ve watched you make enough furniture that I can fit pieces together properly. If I do that and Logan can make the plans for the barn...”

Logan nodded. “I can absolutely draft the plans alone. The sooner you have a barn and the animals are safe, the better.”

“I think we can actually put the bed together, if Roman wants to go with you to get the wood. As long as we can take a look at how your bed is constructed, I think we can figure it out.” Patton offered. “Plus, it’s our bed anyway.”

Virgil closed his eyes briefly and nodded. “Good plan. Let’s get to work, I guess.”

Patton and Janus unloaded the cart while Roman went to fetch Baron. Logan headed right back into the house.

Gathering wood with Virgil, Roman had found, was largely just wandering around in the woods with a horse while Virgil put his hands on different trees and either moved on, or stood back while the tree spontaneously toppled. This time, it only took them a relatively short while for Virgil to come to a massive, slightly twisted tree that seemed like it would be a decent amount of wood. Not enough for the whole barn, but perhaps enough to get the walls up. Roman held on to Baron while Virgil felled it, and then lashed it to the horse once it was down.

They walked it back to the lake and Roman turned Baron out while Virgil began to split the tree. The sun was teasing the tops of the highest trees by the time Virgil finished, and Roman knew they wouldn’t have enough time today to build the barn.

Just as he was about to point this out to Virgil, Logan came out of the house with a roll of paper in his hand.

“Alright, I’ve finished up the plans for a barn that I think will be suitable.” Logan handed the drafts to Virgil, who gave them a quick glance. “I do have some bad news, though.”

Virgil nodded. “You’ve got to return to the village tonight, don’t you?”

Logan looked briefly surprised, then weary. “Yes, I do. It’s late already, but I think I can make it back safely enough if I leave now. It’s been wonderful being here, but I am the town healer and I’ve been away too long.”

“You’ll make it to the town just fine if you take Lady back with you.” Roman said.

Logan looked to him. “You’d let me take Lady? What about Janus and Patton?”

Roman shrugged. “I’ll give them Baron if they want to go back tonight, too. We’re not going to be able to get the walls of the barn up tonight, so it’s safer for the both of you if you take Lady into the town tonight. We’re going to have the dogs, the chickens, and the goats all inside the hut. It’ll be slightly less crowded with both Lady and Aristotle with you. One less horse, one less dog.”

Logan looked relieved. “Thank you. I’ll get her back to you soon, I promise.”

At this point, Roman knew Logan could handle Lady and her tack, so he just let Logan take care of it. Virgil hugged Logan tightly and then went to stow the plans for the barn in the house. Logan turned to Roman and shifted his weight.

“Thank you again for letting me make use of your horse.” Logan was using the slightly more formal tone that he defaulted to when he was nervous.

Roman hesitated for a moment, then rolled his eyes. “Oh, come here.”

He opened his arms for a hug, and was relieved when Logan relaxed and stepped forward into it. The other man was solid in his arms, and Roman felt a little colder when they parted.

“Be safe, Lo.” He said softly.

Logan’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “I will.”

Roman watched him mount Lady and call Aristotle to him. Virgil came back out of the house in time to stand with Roman as they watched Logan disappear back into the forest.

Virgil gave Roman a sly smile. “Come on. Let’s take a walk around the lake to my brother’s house. I want to find out if he intends to go back to the village tonight.”

They made it about halfway to Patton and Janus’s house before Virgil stopped short. “You know what, on second thought, maybe we can just leave it up to them to come let us know if they intend on leaving tonight.”

At that, Roman actually started laughing. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but I was wondering if you really had thought that through. I don’t know that we want to interrupt them.”

Virgil pouted playfully. “In my defense, I mostly just wanted to take a walk around my lake. I like to do that sometimes.”

“It is very pretty at sunset.”

Virgil stuck his tongue out at Roman and put his arms out, beginning to spin around. His skirt today was a dark blue one that flared out easily with the movement.

“You know, I think I’m actually going to miss the nerd tonight. I’ve kind of gotten used to him.” Roman mused, scuffing a toe into the dirt on the bank.

Virgil stopped his spinning to shoot him a look out of the corner of his eye and a smirk that Roman knew meant mischief. “Even if it means the bed is empty tonight?”

Roman rolled his eyes. “While I certainly won’t complain about that, I have actually come to really enjoy Logan’s company.”

“You enjoy it now, hmm?” The look Virgil was giving him was incredibly smug.

Roman took in the expression for all of half a second. “Ok, what is it? I know that look, you’re plotting.”

“Nah, I’m not.” Virgil’s smirk opened into a full grin. “Just having a bit of fun with you.”

Roman grinned back fondly. “Still, what are you trying to get at?”

“I’m just wondering if you’ve realised that you like Logan.” Virgil spun and half-danced down to the bank of the lake to dip his toes in the water.

“Of course I’ve realised that I like him, isn’t that what I’ve been saying?” Roman followed him to the bank, though he didn’t take his boots off to splash in the water.

Virgil turned and arched an eyebrow at him.

“What?” Roman frowned.

Virgil gave him a Look.

“ _Oh._ If I’ve realised that- that I _like_ him.” Roman gaped, but Virgil didn’t seem angry or upset, just amused. Was Virgil right, though? Did Roman _like_ Logan? He thought about it.

He certainly was attracted to Logan. That wasn’t hard. Logan was tall and slender, pale by Roman’s standards, but not in the near-glowing way that Virgil was. He didn’t have the striking contrast of Virgil’s black hair and strangely slivery-brown eyes against white skin. Instead, he had brown hair, close to the colour of the chocolate cakes he’d seen Patton bake, and slightly more tanned skin. Despite his blue eyes, Logan looked… warmer.

And he was warm, actually. He’d been standoffish at first, and the years he’d spent reading books instead of making friends as a child definitely showed sometimes, but once Roman had gotten past the awkwardness, well. Logan was actually pretty amazing. He was the smartest person he’d ever met, certainly, and quick with comebacks to Roman’s quips. He was caring and made Virgil smile in the unguarded way that Roman loved. And, shit, yeah. Roman _liked_ Logan.

“So?” Virgil asked, stepping out of the water and dragging his feet through the sand to dry them off.

“Yeah.” Roman sighed. “Yeah, I have now realised. Is that ok?”

Virgil grinned and walked up to where Roman had stopped to have his little revelation. “Yeah, it’s ok. I like him too.”

“Should we…?”

Virgil slung his arms around Roman’s neck. “We can talk to him next time we see him.”

Roman let his hands fall to Virgil’s waist. “Alright. Cool. Good.”

“What was that about _me_ being the beautiful idiot in this relationship?” Virgil laughed, and leaned in to kiss him before Roman could come up with any sort of comeback.

When they separated after several long moments, Virgil shook his head. “I did say the bed would be free tonight but, honestly, I don’t think we’re going to get any alone time. We’ve got to get all the animals inside before it gets dark and I don’t want to risk finding out what my little brother is doing with Janus in order to make them help with that. I think we’re going to just have to get all the animals in the hut with us.”

Roman ducked his head to plant a few kisses along Virgil’s neck before stepping back. Virgil let his arms fall from Roman’s shoulder, but he tangled their fingers together.

“That’s fine. We’ll just have to make sure we get at least the walls of the barn up tomorrow.”

Virgil smiled and started to walk towards the hut, tugging Roman along. “I’m sure we will, now that we’re properly motivated.”

Roman rubbed his thumb across the back of Virgil’s hand. “Mhmm.”

They walked around the edge of the lake towards Virgil’s hut, and Roman started mentally cataloging the animals that they’d have to round up. The goats were grazing along the fence of Virgil’s garden, and Baron was near the edge of the clearing behind the hut. The chickens had clustered around the coop, except for the rooster, which was on the roof of the hut. Dot was running around the dock with the other puppies, while Duke and Duchess supervised.

As Roman watched, he saw Duke’s ears perk. At the same moment, Virgil’s grip on his hand tightened.

“Roman, someone’s coming. From the river, I think it’s-” Virgil’s tone was low and tense, and his words cut off just as a figure stumbled out of the treeline, and then quickly halted.

The figure was tall, with skin just a few shades lighter than Roman’s. Their hair was the same texture, but just slightly darker. Their build was just a little bit bulkier, but they were the same height as Roman. And their face, save for a few scars, freckles, and their expression, was identical to Roman’s.

Roman felt like his feet had dropped out from under him.

Remus had arrived.

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978038/chapters/59903221)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys, I need some opinions on a matter. I’m going to keep the ratings of these main stories as they currently are, but I am considering doing some extra E rated one shots. I want to say that if I did those one shots that they’d just be a separate thing and you wouldn’t have to read them if you didn’t want to, but also I know that I personally have a habit of including plot in my porn. I definitely wouldn’t write these hypothetical one shots to be *critical* to understanding the stories, but also they’d probably include hints and foreshadowing bc that’s just how I like to write. So, opinions? If I did write E rated one shots for this series, would y’all like that?


	5. Chapter 5

Virgil moved first. While Roman’s entire body locked up, vines began to whip out of the forest, reaching towards Remus. Remus didn’t notice them at first, but he realised it pretty quickly once one began to wrap around his neck. The vine was thick, so he managed to rip it off easily. He looked at Roman, and started to open his mouth, maybe to call out to him? But was cut off by another vine attempting to strangle him.

Remus looked around frantically, and then began to run towards the lake. The grass seemed to come alive as he ran, tearing itself up to try to trip him and climb up his legs, but Remus managed to remain upright, though he did drop something that he’d been wearing on his back onto the ground. He made it to the lake and threw himself in headfirst, splashing water up onto the bank. Virgil let out a snarl and leapt forward, while Roman remained frozen where he was. Virgil bared his teeth at the surface of the water, and his skin began to glow slightly purple from effort, but nothing happened.

“Wait!” Across the lake, the door to Janus and Patton’s house slammed open. Janus ran out, Patton close at his heels. Both of them had clearly gotten dressed in a hurry. “He’s not going to hurt Roman! There’s more to the story.”

Virgil snarled. “I can’t hurt the fucker anyway. He’s got magic, or something like it. I can’t reach him in the water.”

“Alright, just wait there. We’re going to come over to you. Please, when he comes up for air, don’t attack him. Listen to what he has to say.” Patton said. He and Janus jogged around the lake, Janus going to watch Remus with Virgil, and Patton coming over to Roman.

When Patton touched his elbow, Roman felt like he finally had some control over his body again. His heart was pounding, his knees felt like they were shaking, but he let Patton lead him to the water’s edge.

“What do you mean, there’s more to the story?” He asked quietly. His voice sounded far away to his own ears.

Patton shrugged. “I don’t know. As soon as Remus got close to the lake, Janus had a vision. Of Remus’s past. There wasn’t any time for him to tell me what he saw.”

Roman looked to Janus, but the fae was too busy intently staring into the water. Roman choked back a lump in his throat, then followed Janus’s gaze.

In the lake that Roman had come to love, about two body lengths below the top of the water, was Remus. His brother was looking up, watching them. The surface had gone eerily still, and Roman felt like he was looking down into a flat, polished mirror. Remus’s hair was floating loosely around his face now, and Roman’s eyes caught on a section of it that had somehow turned completely white. There was something deeply uncomfortable about how Remus looked in the water, and it took Roman several long moments to figure out what.

“He’s not going to come up for air.” Roman said. It was quiet, but everyone turned to stare at him anyway. Roman didn’t take his eyes off his brother.

“What?” Virgil asked, his tone harsh.

“Look at him.” Roman shivered slightly. “He’s not letting out any bubbles. He’s not even swimming, or treading water. He’s just floating there. You said he had magic, right? He’s using it right now. He won’t need to come up for air.”

They all looked back at Remus under the water.

“He’s right.” Janus said eventually.

“What do we do, then?” Virgil didn’t sound any less angry.

Patton stepped forwards, letting his toes touch the water. “I’m going to try to see if I can get him to come up and talk to us. Virgil, you can’t attack him. In fact, why don’t you round up all the animals before it gets completely dark? Janus and I will take Roman and his brother into our house and we can talk.”

“I won’t talk to him without Virgil there.” Roman blurted, feeling panic start to seize him again. He felt like such a coward, but he knew he couldn’t handle it without Virgil.

He felt Virgil’s hand grab his and squeeze tightly.

Patton sighed. “Ok. Dear, could you round up the animals instead? Virgil, you cannot attack him.”

Janus nodded and backed away, but Roman didn’t watch him go. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on his brother and Patton, as Patton slowly walked deeper into the water.

Patton stopped when the water reached his knees. He paused for a few moments, until the surface of the lake became uncannily still again. The, he waved.

Remus waved back.

Patton gestured for Remus to come over to them. Roman saw Remus’s eyes narrow, and then Remus moved. He didn’t swim towards them, though. He swam backwards, and up, putting more distance between them before he surfaced. And the way he moved underwater seemed… wrong. It was too smooth, too fast, too graceful. Remus swam the way a fish or dolphin would swim, as though it was his natural way of moving. It was terribly uncomfortable, and yet it made sense somehow.

When Remus surface, in the middle of the lake, he immediately began to cough and retch water. It was horrible to listen to, horrible to watch, and Roman honestly thought that he was going to have to watch his brother choke and drown right in front of him. He coughed up what seemed like a bucketful of water before taking several wet, ragged breaths.

“Remus?” Patton called out.

“Yes. Are you going to try to kill me again?” Remus spoke, and Roman flinched. He’d almost forgotten what Remus sounded like. His brother’s voice was higher and more nasally than his own, but it was a minor difference. They were brothers, twins, and Remus sounded a lot like Roman.

“If you don’t try to hurt any of us, including Roman, then no.” Patton said carefully. “Why don’t we all go into my house and talk about this. I understand there’s more to your story than Roman knows.”

“I am not here to hurt my brother, or anyone else.” Remus said, and then began to move towards them.

Even with his head above the water, he still swam in that too quick, too smooth way. When he reached the edge of the lake and it became too shallow for him to swim, he stood up and walked. The water seemed to fold around his legs, and he didn’t leave any wake behind him. In the dim dusk light, his hair lay flat against his scalp, and the stripe of white at the center of his forehead stood out blatantly.

Remus looked over the three of them with a calculating gaze before turning to Patton. “Shall we go inside?”

Patton lead the way, and Roman didn’t miss how deliberate it was when Remus turned his back to Roman to follow. It was a show of trust, sure. But Roman wasn’t convinced it was genuine.

Inside, they sat down on the wood floors in front of the fireplace. Remus sat on the stone that surrounded the fireplace, his back to a small, crackling fire to dry off. Patton was sitting to Remus’s left, and the spot to Remus’s right was left empty for Janus. Virgil and Roman sat across from Remus, their thighs pressed together. Roman still felt like he was shaking.

They sat in silence before Janus finally came in.

“They’re all inside, and I closed the flap to the bedroom.” He said quietly to Virgil. Virgil nodded.

“Why don’t we get started, then. Remus, you’re not here to kill Roman, correct?” Patton said, carefully.

Remus nodded and sighed. Then he looked Roman in the eye and Roman felt like his whole body had frozen again.

“I am not here to kill you. I know what you heard our uncle say to me, and I know what you must have felt, but believe me, I would never have hurt you. Our uncle was a power-hungry, manipulative bastard who would have killed both of us.” Remus said. As he spoke, Roman felt the same old arguments and assurances that he played over and over in his head bubble up again. His fear started to fade into anger, and he unfroze.

“And I’m supposed to believe that? You never would have hurt me, huh? And that’s why you stayed with our uncle for years, and waited this long to hunt me down? How can you expect me to believe that? For all I know, you and our uncle teamed up, and now he’s sent you to finish me off so you two have no competition to the throne.”

Remus frowned. “I stayed with him for all these years because after you, the crown prince, ran away, I was expected to take up the crown. I stayed because our people needed leadership after our father died. Unlike you, I don’t like to just hide away from and forget about my responsibilities just because they’re difficult or uncomfortable.”

“I didn’t run away from my responsibilities because they were hard, I ran away because my own family was conspiring to have me murdered! I’m not an idiot, dear brother, I could fucking tell that no one on the _Dragon_ liked me. It didn’t take any stretch of the imagination to think that you’d all turn on me.” Roman felt his lips begin to curl into a snarl now, all his fear gone. “But I’m so glad you’re here now. Since you’ve said how committed you are to our people and making sure they have someone on the throne, then can I assume that means you left someone in charge while you hunt me down? Our uncle, perhaps?”

“Our cousin, actually. Uncle is dead, Roman. And you’re right, no one on the _Dragon_ liked you. How could they, when you never gave them a chance? You holed up in your quarters, studying and eating alone, while I did your job and kept the ship running. They didn’t like you because they didn’t know you.” Remus’s face was starting to become twisted with irritation now, and Roman felt viciously pleased with that. His brother’s true colours were showing through. “You keep saying that I’m hunting you down? Don’t flatter yourself. Finding you wasn’t hard enough to be considered hunting. I’m not an idiot either, but you are a sentimental fool, _dear brother_. All I had to do was have a little chat with your old boyfriend, from the kitchens. And before you ask, yes, he’s still alive. I noticed you’ve picked up a new boy, but you’ve kept that old dog you ran away with.”

“How was I supposed to keep up a social life with every sailor on that ship? I was a little busy trying to learn how to run a kingdom! And, fine, congratulations on finding me. Now you can run back off to our uncle and tell him that you’ve sufficiently warned me against coming back. I know we don’t have any cousins, Remus, don’t try to trick me. Our father was an only child, and our only uncle didn’t have any kids.”

“How many times am I going to have to tell you that our uncle is dead? And actually, he did have a bastard son that he claimed as his legitimate heir, not that you were around when that happened. ‘Cause you weren’t ever around after mom died anyway. Don’t fucking lie to me, Roman, you didn’t ignore everyone else on the ship because you were busy, you did it because you were too ashamed to admit that the son of sailors, the son of the king, was scared of deep water. Couldn’t bring yourself to walk around deck, ‘cause you might accidentally catch a glimpse of the water and faint. I have no idea how you managed to choke it down long enough to cross the North Sea and make it here, and I’d almost be impressed if it weren’t, y’know, _you_.” Remus spit out.

Roman felt his face burn red. “And you weren’t after it killed our mom? No, because you don’t have any feelings. Uncle was right, I watched you when we had to learn to gut a fish. It was disgusting, and you were totally unbothered. You thought it was fun. Because you’re like him, and you’re like our father. Cruel and uncaring. Yeah, can’t imagine why I don’t believe you when you say that our uncle is dead and you’re not here to kill me. Why don’t you just fuck back off to your precious kingdom?”

“The ocean didn’t kill our mom! She died in a storm, why are you assigning blame to water for that? For all we know, she died because she hit her head on some debris. Are you going to start being afraid of trees?” Remus spat. “And why do people keep bringing up the fish thing? Yes, I can gut a fish. No, it isn’t gross for me. Cutting up a dead animal for food is very different than actually taking a life, Roman. I’m not the one who decided my hobby was going to be riding out into a forest and letting my dogs terrorize some bunnies that I wouldn’t even end up eating.”

“Well, regardless, I haven’t seen any proof that Uncle is actually dead and you’re not here to kill me.”

Remus groaned. “How about that I haven’t killed you yet? Is that good enough?”

“Doesn’t give me proof that our uncle is dead, or tell me what you’re doing here if you’re not here to kill me.” Roman leaned forward, his tone mocking. “Why the fuck did you come find me, _dear brother_?”

Remus bared his teeth and reached up, grabbing at the strand of white hair on his head. “How’s this? Do you know how I got this, _dear brother_? Ever seen anything like it? You should know that the sun won’t lighten your hair like this. It’s from the Ocean Goddess, you know. She gave me her blessing apparently. I don’t know why. I went to her island, something you would have done if you hadn’t run away, and I was murdered. I _died,_ Roman. Uncle sent a mercenary after me. Before I died, I killed the mercenary, and we both fell into the Goddess’s sacred spring. It’s a lot like the lake you’ve got here, actually. And she gave me her blessing, healed me. So to answer your question, why am I here and how can you be sure that our uncle is dead? He’s dead because I killed him the very next night. I used the blade that he tried to have me killed with to end his life. So I can’t go back to our kingdom, brother, because I murdered the King Regent. And I’m _not_ here to murder you.”

Remus was breathing heavily when he finished talking, and Roman felt oddly helpless. He looked to Janus, who nodded.

“He’s telling the truth. At least, about your uncle and the mercenary. Having the blessing of a goddess would certainly explain how he managed to stay underwater for so long earlier, and why Virgil couldn’t do anything to him.” Janus glanced at Remus. “It’s not unheard of, but it certainly isn’t a common gift.”

Roman sighed. “Could I have a moment alone with him, please?”

Janus stood up immediately. “Of course. We’ll go check on the animals. The three of us will be safe together.”

Janus stepped forward and helped Patton to his feet. Virgil got up, but looked down at Roman before he left. “Are you sure?”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Virgil put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, then followed Patton and Janus out of the house.

Once the door closed behind them, Remus raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry.” Roman said.

Remus’s other eyebrow joined the already raised one. “What?”

“I’m sorry.” Roman repeated, and looked down. “I’m sorry that we grew apart after mom died. I’m sorry that I isolated myself from you. I’m sorry I assumed the worst and ran away instead of giving you a chance to explain yourself.”

Remus made a soft noise. “I’m sorry, too.”

Roman took in a deep breath. “Do you want to stay here?”

“What?”

“Well, I assume you had some plan after coming to find me that involved getting a place to live.” Roman shrugged.

Remus let out a laugh that could have been mistaken for an exhale. “Not really, actually. I was going to spend the night by this lake and then head into that village nearby tomorrow to look for you. I didn’t really make a plan after that.”

“Oh.” Roman looked back up. “Well, yeah. I have a house in that village, but I don’t really use it anymore? I’ve mostly moved in with Virgil, into that house on the other side of the lake. So, it’s empty if you want it. I mean, we could definitely also build you a house here, so you could be closer to the water, but we’ve already got a lot of building projects that we have to complete first so it might take a bit, but we c-”

“Roman.” Remus cut him off. “If you’re ok with it, I would love that. You’re my brother, and I have missed you.”

“I- I’ve missed you, too.”

[ Next Chapter (Alternate Order) -> ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152077/chapters/60831100)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, Roman’s story is now complete. But! We aren’t done with the twins yet. I still have to finish up some things with Remus. Obviously, there’s a lot more waiting to happen.  
> I'm also still in the process of considering if I'm going to write any E rated asides. I'll have a decision with the next chapter release, I think


End file.
